CCJS234 Chapter 1 Individual Rights Under the United States Constitution Weber s definition of law Explicit rules of conduct Planned use of sanctions to support the rules Designated officials to interpret and enforce the rules and often to make them Criminal Law penal law the body of law that defines conduct that is criminally punishable by the government as a wrong committed against the people in society as a whole Civil Law business law family law contract law property law etc Substantive Criminal Law sets forth legal prescriptions and proscriptions the rules of what one must do may do and may not do Procedural Criminal Law sets forth the mechanism through which substantive criminal laws are administered Crime Control Model Focus crime control repression of criminal conduct Goal apprehension conviction and punishment of offenders Mood certainty Assembly Line Justice processes cases quickly and efficiently to promote finality of convictions Concerned with factual guilt assumes that someone arrested and charged is probably guilty Relies on informal non adjudicative fact finding primarily by police and prosecutors Expeditious processing of offenders to achieve justice for victims and society as a whole Due Process Model Focus due process respect for individual rights Primary Goal protection of the innocent limiting governmental power Mood Skepticism Obstacle Court Justice Presents numerous obstacles to prevent errors and wrongful convictions Concerned with legal guilt the assumption that someone is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt Relies on formal adjudicative adversary fact finding processes Dignity and autonomy of both the accused and the system are to be preserved Due process revolution the shift in policy during the 1960 s The power of Judicial Review Supremacy Clause declares the constitution is the supreme law of the land Article 6 Section 2 Constitutional law trumps all other forms of law including statutory law laws enacted by a legislative body common law the law as set forth by judges in published judicial decisions and administrative law rules and regulations promulgated by a governmental agency that is empowered through statutory law to make such rules Judicial branch has assumed the largest and most important role Marbury v Madison 1803 it was the duty of the judiciary to say what the law is and that this duty included expounding and interpreting the law The law contained in the constitution was paramount and that other laws that were repugnant to its provisions must fall Province of the courts decided when other laws were in violation of the basic law of the constitution can declare laws null and void Judicial Review Congress also creates legislation to protect constitutional rights Executive branch contributes to the protection of individual rights by devising its own regulations and procedures to administer the law Federal republic American lives under two governments the federal government and the state government The Bill of Rights see page 11 for chart of all Amendments 10 Amendments that were added to the constitution to guarantee basic individual liberties governments Originally bill of rights only applied to federal government and not state 14th amendment protected against state governments Gitlow v New York 1925 Supreme court interpreted due Process of law without abridgement of certain of the rights guaranteed by the bill of rights Selective incorporation 14th amendments due process clause limits the ability of states to infringe on rights specified in the Bill of Rights that are fundamental but recognizes that not every right in the Bill of Rights may qualify The only guarantees in the Bill of Rights concerning criminal procedure that do not apply to the states are The right to indictment by grand jury 5th The prohibition against excessive bail 8th Any guarantee that convictions be obtained only from unanimous twelve member juries that may be implicit in the 6th amendment right to a jury trial Amendment rights are mainly civil rights the privileges and freedoms that are accorded all Americans by virtue of their citizenship Key Points Substantive criminal law defines conduct that is criminally punishable by the government as a wrong committed against the people in society as a whole Criminal procedure which stems from constitutions statutes and court rules sets forth the mechanisms and processes through which substantive criminal laws are administered in an attempt to balance the need to respect individual rights on one hand and the need to maintain public order on the other Individual Rights in the Original Constitution Habeus Corpus Article 1 section 9 clause 2 The privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it Petition for a writ of habeas corpus asks a federal court to examine an alleged illegal detention and order authorities to release an illegally confined petitioner Can be suspended only when the president declares that a national emergency requires its suspension war invasion rebellion Prevents unlawful imprisonment Bills of Attainder Ex Post Facto Laws Article 1 Section 9 Clause 3 Article 1 Section 10 Clause 1 A special act of a legislature declaring that a person or group of persons has committed a crime and imposing punishment without a court trial Law passed after the fact Article 1 Section 9 Clause 3 Article 1 Section 10 Clause 1 Any statute which punishes as a crime an act previously committed which was innocent when done which makes more burdensome the punishment for a crime after its commission or which deprives one charged crime of any defense available according to law at the time when the act is committed is prohibited as ex post facto Laws that determine how a person is to be tried for a crime may be changed so long as the substantial rights of the accused are not curtailed can make punishments less severe Trial Rights Article 3 sections 1 and 2 The trial of all federal crimes except impeachment shall be by jury Exceptions to this trials of petty offenses trials that are before a court martial and other military tribunal and trials in which the defendant has waived the right the a jury Federal criminal trials be held in a federal court sitting in the state where the crime occurred Conviction for Treason Article 3 section 3 Treason is the only crime defined by the constitution Treason against the U S shall consist only in